


Homeworld Bound

by Artemis_Crimson



Category: Alien Series, Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/M, More ships TBA - Freeform, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Various less important plot filler Oc's
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:56:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27446005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis_Crimson/pseuds/Artemis_Crimson
Summary: In which I celebrate the remaster by posting my rewrite of post-ME2 except Garrus is a xenomorph and the shenanigans that ensue
Relationships: Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian, Javik/Liara T'Soni, Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
Kudos: 7





	Homeworld Bound

**Author's Note:**

  * For [deceptigeek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deceptigeek/gifts).



> Happy N7 day! I take my crack very very seriously

The Normandy had survived the suicide run, scouring the wreaked data for any advantage. Liara was the one who helped them find it, Collector code so close to Prothean. Some of it would take a team of specialists, some of it was encrypted. Some was viable. A log of reaper activity to and from dark space let them work out they had two more years at absolute maximum to prepare. Two years to browbeat the council into cooperation, ready the galaxy and dig up some hope of fighting back.

Shepard, head down on the galaxy map half figured if she only didn’t have to spend so much fucking time on the first part of the agenda they’d have this war well in hand. She slapped the citadel blindly and groaned when Joker called out the confirmation. The Normandy was too fast for comfort this one time, she’d be back for another round of There’s Fucking Reapers/No before she could blink.

Three months into her return to the semi-public sphere, an open secret her appearance still caught stares. Shepard walks down the quieter streets, during the quieter morning hours. Even in an almost sleepless Citadel the ward’s still ebb and flow. She half wishes she had a contact here, a local, current or ex C-SEC, anyone who’d been here for more than short haunts like Wrex and Tali. Her appearance might be catching stares today because she’s leading Thane (who isn’t allowed in the vents at the moment), Joker (who’s definitely drawn attention by complaining loudly), Liara (who’s only slightly more quietly ranting- passionately explaining why they should return to Eden Prime) and Miranda (who despite her opinions otherwise was never subtle). Today’s tactic is witness testimony overload.

* * *

Today’s tactic was a failure.

She’d wasted hours, lost one of her collector pistols for council analysis and little else. Well, at least it wasn’t an entire waste of time, she’d received permission to search for more relics on Eden Prime. Liara was happy at least, she’d given up a cozy office full of information on everyone, spent most days working in the lab swapping between shifty trades and research on the reapers as quickly as possible, and she still had to delegate large chunks of her Broker work to a network she only half trusted. Making the stops she wanted go a bit more smoothly was the least Shepard could do.

* * *

Four months after the collector base.

Wrex has (mostly) stabilized Krogan power. Liara had found a promising site and was staying behind while the Normandy went to pick up Miranda, Mordin and Thane from Omega. It was just as much of a gang ridden mess as when she’d first visited to recruit the Salarian, but his clinic was still there and relatively off the radar. The three of them would be able to handle any incursions and somehow they’d all finally managed to browbeat Thane into living through his redemption.

She suspected he wasn’t really trying to live, just postponing his heroic suicide to fuel the inevitable war. She tried not to dwell on that. She hates how successful she is the rare times she slips up and reminds herself.

Shepard holsters a rifle and squares her shoulders, Jack and Tali by her sides. She wishes she had a sniper on her side right now but they’re here to retrieve Thane, and Legion is far beyond the Vale, reintegrating rogue geth and hopefully having more success in convincing the rest there’s a problem. Edi wishes them luck and goes back to flirting with Joker.

Four months and a day after the base she’s sparing with Thane, Liara had alerted them to something on Eden Prime and she needs the beacon still floating around in her mind. So she play flights with Thane while Joker calibrates their jumps. He’d complained about growing rusty but judging from the handspring kick hitting her face he’d wanted to show off. Shepard doesn’t begrudge him this, and she could use the distraction. The next blow hits and she snatches his wrist when it does, twisting and slamming him into the mats hard enough to knock the wind from him. He smiles, gets back up easily. It takes her breath away.

On Eden Prime the prize Liara has been scavenging for, needed Shepard’s help to unearth is a Prothean. He bats her helping hand away and the beacon’s traces crystallize perfectly. She’s carried it for years and now it fits like just barely integrated bone weave weeks post surgery. Sore, still not just a part of her but hers nevertheless.

Javik spills onto the ground without the grace she knows is drilled in and he’ll claim is natural to all Protheans. He looks up at a different sky, around at a strange world not his. Shepard gives him a moment, waking up when up out of time was jarring enough for her two years. Liara tries to help him to the ship or at least catch him up to speed, he follows listening in an angry daze.

Five months after Javik hasn’t settled, not really. They’re preparing but he’d been born in the end of the war and had fought until he went under. Peacetime, even the calm before the storm they where mired in now wasn’t anything he was used to. He’s warmed up, slightly, to Liara. The closest thing to friendship at the moment, though in the way they bicker Shepard thinks (hopes) they could find something more. He’s pointed out bases, given information on past projects that might still be around. He’s not warm with anyone else, but he respects most of her crew for their efforts and skill. Sometimes he gets a look in all four of his eyes when she issues an order, makes a speech. He hasn’t made a problem of it though, so he can deal with whatever it is on his own time. At least for another year or so.

A colony goes offline. The Council is spooked. Five months after her last defiance of death they send her to investigate, she’s a spectre after all, at least when it suits them. She gains three tagalongs. Her old wish for a citadel local had backfired into giving them babysitters. One grumpy Asari who was too good for any of them, and one boring Turian who was too good for any of them save the Asari. She doesn’t bother with cracking open their shells yet, she’s picking up Grunt and Wrex for this excursion and she’s missed them. Her third escort is a surprise, a gift from Anderson. Kaiden is late but makes it to the Normandy before they take off. He doesn’t apologize, he’s too proud for that. He salutes propaganda perfect, asks to be let aboard on behalf of the Alliance. Shepard isn’t proud, not in the ways that mean holding grudges.

Save Legion and Samara, this is her whole crew again. She smiles and welcomes him up.

Javik thinks the temple looks foreign to him, older than the Innsuneons. Liara agrees, though pointing there’s disturbances only a few months old. From orbit Joker and Edi scan the world and find an bustling illicit colony. There’s resources to mine, artifacts to research and if not for the blasted storms that sweep the surface it’d be a perfect garden, just too far away from citadel space for them to comfortably colonize. They’ll deal with them later. Right now they’re winding a massive maze downward, steep tunnels and antechambers large enough to drive the Mako through. Liara and Javik stop near the bottom, the path loops back up and splits down further to a room covered floor walls and ceiling with words. They’re bickering about the glyphs, cheerfully. Shepard can see Liara settling in and well, they where told to investigate the place. She gives the go ahead to stay behind and catalogue everything so long as she has a partner. No one asks or offers, Javik just slings off a pack of her tools and picks right back up the direction it’s meant to be read in.

Everyone leaves them to it. There’s a second site, the tunnels to it long since collapsed but accessible above ground, a colony they’ll need to fly to, and a storm-front 73 hours out. Shepard sends Miranda and their two guests back up to retrieve more supplies for their intrepid archaeologists, (Tali tagging along) then takes the other shuttle and the rest of her ragtag little ground crew to the other location. Wrex, Grunt and Shepard work unison to budge the pile of rock blocking the door. Grunt picks up anything he can manage and chucks it to the side bare handed. Wrex has this rolling warp trick, pulls things towards him as they shatter. Thane and Kaiden augment their strength. Shepard wrenches the mnemonics in place for a singularity, she almost wishes Jack was here, with how her biotics pop.

It’s not slow, or fast, just steady. There’s a fair amount of debris to shift but when they get to the last, largest boulder instead of working together like reasonable adults they compete to see who can lift it on their own. Thane had stepped down, staring disbelieving between Grunt, who called this. Shepard who allowed this, and the rock. Finally stating “Siha I will not let you buy me a new spine.”

Grunt headbutted the rock, then strained to lift it fruitless. Headbutted it again. Took the chunk that broke off the second time and sent it so far over the horizon with a gleeful toss an Olympian would have wept with envy.

Kaiden is goaded into their contest, they whoop like children when he pops the thing out of the ground and groan good natured when he fumbles his grasp, gravity resetting itself as he startles. Wrex manages to levitate the thing and shove it back from the entry enough for cold stale air to rush out. Shepard grins and scrambled up to the top of the entry way, kicking up in the air and ramming it at an awkward angle over the lip with all the mass she can bring to this Charge. It rolls slowly, barely and then tips down the tiny incline. She can see the shuttle in the distance, Miranda and Jack bickering just as enthusiastic as ever. Grunt and Wrex almost syncing up to their argument with who made it easier for who and who won. Tali is the only one who doesn’t return, fussing over the static interference with the hammerhead.

Her two unwanted escorts begin to fuss over wasting time so Shepard concedes to Krogan superiority. Their gloating will be the less insufferable sound. Jack shoves the last few rocks out of the way, bitter about missing the chance to show off.

They head down into the dead air, omnitool lights the only illumination. Darkness and low-lying fog cover forcing them to the far corners if they want to truly inspect anything.

In retrospect that’s about when everything goes to shit.

**Author's Note:**

> Please pester me to actually keep working on this


End file.
